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y 

INDUCEMENTS 



TO THE 



COLORED PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES 



TO EMIGRATE TO BRITISH GUIANA, 



Compiled from Statements and Documents furnished by Mr. Edward Carbery, 

Agent of the " Immigration Society of British Guiana," and 

a Proprietor in that Colony. 



BY A FRIEND TO THE COLORED PEOPLE. 



. ':> 



BOSTON: 
PRINTED FOR DISTRIBUTION 

KIDDER AND WRIGHT, CONGRESS STREET. 

1840. 






i 



J-- 



INDUCEMENTS. 



I. SITUATION, EXTENT, GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES, CLIMATE, 
SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS OF BRITISH GUIANA. 

Guiana is a vast tract of territory situated on the 
north-east coast of South America, between the mouths 
of those celebrated rivers, the Oronoco and the Ama- 
zons. 

British Guiana includes a portion of this coast, 
extending some two hundred miles from east to west, 
bounded on the east by the river Corentyn which sepa- 
rates it from Dutch Guiana, or Surinam, and on the 
west by the Morocco creek, or the tract of country 
adjacent to it, belonging to the republic of Venezuela. 
British Guiana extends inland from the coast some two 
hundred miles, in a southerly direction, to a chain of 
high mountains, by which it is bounded on the south, 
and which separates it from Brazil. It thus includes an 
area of upwards of forty thousand square miles, being 
about equal in extent to the State of New York. 



4 

The whole country slopes gradually down from the 
mountains to the sea. The back country is hilly and 
much diversified in surface ; the land along the sea- 
coast is flat, level, and extremely fertile. The colony 
is watered by three large rivers, the Essequebo, the 
Demarara, and the Berbice. These rivers descend 
from the mountains, and run parallel to each other at 
nearly equal distances. They are navigable for many 
miles, and together with numerous smaller rivers and 
creeks, they not only afford great facihties for internal 
navigation, but also for irrigating the land, a thing of 
great importance in that climate. 

British Guiana never suffers from those violent storms 
and hurricanes with which other tropical regions are 
visited. Along the whole coast, vessels can ride at 
anchor in perfect safety, at all seasons of the year. The 
whole shore is a bed of deep soft mud, and can be 
approached by vessels without danger. 

The latitude of the coast, along which the settle- 
ments are situated, is about seven degrees, north. The 
longitude of Georgetown, the capital, is about fifty- 
seven degrees west from Greenwich. Its direction from 
the city of New York is considerably east of south. 
The distance is about two thousand miles, or twenty 
days' sail,very nearly the same distance as New Orleans. 

Situated under the tropic, Guiana enjoys a perpetual 
summer. The thermometer generally ranges from 78° 
to 84°. The trade winds, which blow constantly from 
the coast, render the climate comfortable and salubrious. 
The year is divided into four seasons, two rainy and 
two dry. The short rainy season usually commences 
about December, and lasts four weeks : the long rainy 
season begins in June, and lasts till the middle of 



August. But as regards these seasons there is a good 
deal of variation. In the rainy season, the rain falls vio- 
lently during the forenoon, but the afternoons are clear 
and pleasant. During the dry season occasional showers 
occur. 

The only portion of this fertile country which has 
yet been settled and cultivated, is a narrow strip extend- 
in(T alons the coast, and a little distance up the mouths 
of the principal rivers, together with some islands at 
the entrance of the Essequebo. The plantations are 
generally about half a mile wide, fronting on the sea, 
and extending back two, three, four or five miles. This 
series of adjoining plantations forms the only cultivated 
part of the country, which thus resembhs a long string 
of villages half a mile apart. 

The soil of the plantations, which is very deep and 
rich, is divided by canals into separate fields. The same 
fields are cultivated in constant succession, and no 
manure is ever used. The canals not only serve to drain 
and irrigate the land, but also to convey the canes, when 
cut, to the sugar-house. Sugar and coftee are principally 
cultivated. There are a few cotton plantations, and 
some devoted to the cultivation of the plantain, which, 
with a rich variety of other vegetables, such as the 
sweet potato, the banana, yams, the casava, &c., fur- 
nish a large part of the food of the inhabitants. There 
are also large cattle farms. Cattle are abundant, and 

beef is cheap. 

The uncultivated tracts abound with a vast variety of 
useful plants and trees. Many of the trees furnish excel- 
lent timber. There are in the colony several stean^ 
mills employed in the manufacture of lumber. 



II. FORM OF GOVERNMENT, ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, CIVIL 
DIVISIONS, POPULATION, SOCIAL EQUALITY. 

British Guiana is a colony, conquered some forty 
years since from the Dutch, belonging to Great Britain. 
It is what is called a crown colony, and all its laws are 
made, or revised in England. 

The governor, whose authority is very extensive, is 
appointed by the British queen. He is assisted in his 
administration by a council of nine persons, called the 
Court of Policy, four of whom are high executive 
officers appointed by the Crown. The other five are 
chosen by the inhabitants. No law made by the Court 
of Policy can remain in force unless it be approved in 
England by the queen in council. 

Justice is administered by a Supreme Court consist- 
ing of three Judges, who are always lawyers of high 
standing, sent out from Great Britain. In the criminal 
trials which come before this court, the judges are as- 
sisted by three assessors, who answer to our jurymen, 
being persons chosen by lot from among the inhabi- 
tants, — who have an equal vote with the judges. No 
prisoner can be found guilty, except by at least four 
votes out of the six. 

The colony is divided into three counties, Demarara, 
Berbice and Essequebo. Each of these counties is 
again divided into parishes, and the parishes are 
subdivided into judicial districts, each under the super- 
intendence of a Stipendiary Magistrate, appointed 
and paid by the Crown. These stipendiary magistrates 
are persons of education and character, sent out from 
Great Britain, and who, having no interest or con- 
nections in the colony, and being frequently removed 
from one district to another, may be expected to be 



impartial, and not likely to be warped in their judg- 
ment by personal considerations. These magistrates 
are under the sole control of the Governor, by whom 
they can be suspended from office. They have exclu- 
sive jurisdiction, as will presently appear, of all con- 
troversies, as to contracts and labor, arising between 
employers and laborers. The whole population of the 
three counties may be estimated at one hundred thou- 
sand, of whom six or eight thousand are white, and all 
the remainder, colored. The English language is now 
spoken by all, and is the only language used in the 
colony. 

Those distinctions which prevail to so great a degree 
in the United States, between the free colored and the 
white population, and which render the position of the 
colored man in the United States so mortifying and 
uncomfortable, are wholly unknown in British Guiana. 
In this respect all are equal : colonial offices and digni- 
ties are held without distinction by white and colored. 
Colored men are indiscriminately drawn to sit as asses- 
sors on the bench of the Supreme Court. The colored 
classes in British Guiana are wealthy, influential, and 
highly respectable. Many of them are magistrates, 
proprietors, merchants with large establishments, and 
managers of estates receiving liberal salaries. The 
collector of customs at one of the principal ports, is 
a person of color, and many others hold public stations. 
It is evident from these facts that color is no obstacle 
to advancement or distinction. It is difficult and almost 
impossible for a citizen of the United States, educated 
in the midst of distinctions and prejudices, to realize 
the state of things so entirely different which prevails 
in British Guiana. 



8 

III. SPECIAL LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF LABORERS AND 
EMIGRANTS. 

The greater part of the laboring population of British 
Guiana were formerly slaves. They have been lately 
set free by the justice and bounty of the British govern- 
ment, which is very jealous of their rights, and which 
has enacted many special laws for their protection. 

A leading measure of this kind is, the appointment 
of the Stipendiary Magistrates above described. These 
stipendiary magistrates have exclusive jurisdiction over 
all controversies between employers and laborers touch- 
ing wages and contracts. It is provided by the fourth 
chapter of the Orders in Council of Sept.Tth, 1 838,which 
are the supreme law in British Guiana, that any laborer, 
on complaint preferred, and proof made before any 
stipendiary magistrate, that his employer has not paid 
his wages, or delivered him the articles agreed upon 
between them as a part of his wages, or that the arti- 
cles delivered were not of the quality or quantity agreed 
upon, or that through the negligence of the master the 
contract has not been properly performed, or that the 
laborer has been ill used, — -upon complaint preferred 
for any of these reasons, and proof made, the stipen- 
diary magistrate may, by summary process, order the 
payment of the wages, the delivering of the stipulated 
articles, or compensation to be made for any negligence 
or ill usage on the part of the employer ; and if the 
order be not complied with, the magistrate has power 
to issue his warrant for the seizure and sale of the goods 
of the employer, or so much as may be necessary ; or 
if no goods are to be found, the magistrate may com- 
mit the employer to prison for any time not exceeding 



9 

one month, unless compensation be sooner made ; and 
the magistrate may dissolve the contract if he see fit. 

To prevent contracts being made with emigrants, 
disadvantageous to them or unfair in any respect, pre* 
vious to their arrival in the colony, it is provided in the 
same Orders in Council, chapter third, that no contract 
of service made out of the colony shall be of any force 
or effect in it ; that no contract of labor shall remain 
in force for more than four weeks, unless it be reduced 
to writing; and that no written contract of service shall 
be binding, unless signed by the name or mark of the 
persons contracting in the presence of a stipendiary 
magistrate ; nor unless the magistrate shall certify that 
it was made voluntarily, and with a full understanding 
of its meaning and effect ; nor can any written contract 
of service remain in force for more than one year. 

It is evident from these statements with what careful 
safeguards against fraud and oppression the benevolence 
of British law has surrounded the laborer and the emi- 
grant. 

There is an Emigration Agent in British Guiana, 
who is a stipendiary magistrate, and whose duty it is to 
furnish emigrants, arriving in the colony, with every 
information, and to prevent any imposition from being 
practiced upon them. It will appear, from an exami- 
nation of the above provisions, that all those colored 
persons from the United States who may emigrate to 
Guiana, will go out perfectly free and unshackled. On 
their arrival in the colony, they will be perfectly their 
own masters, at full liberty to choose any kind of em- 
ployment which the colony offers ; and should they be 
dissatisfied, or disappointed, no obstacle will exist to 
their return. 

2 • 



10 

IV. TAXES, MILITARY DUTY, RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION, EDU- 
CATION. 

The revenue of British Guiana is chiefly derived 
from a tax on the produce raised in the colony, and 
duties levied on the imposts. Parish taxes are unknown, 
and the laborer is exempt from every species of taxa- 
tion, unless his income amount to five hundred dollars. 
The militia laws w^ere abrogated, and the colonial mili- 
tia disbanded soon after the emancipation took place, 
so that the poor man is not compelled to contribute any 
portion of his time to the public service. 

There are Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Catholic 
church establishments supported at an expense to the 
colony of upwards of ^1 13,000 per annum,as will appear 
by reference to the Royal Gazette of May 7th, 1 839, pub- 
hshed in Georgetown, containing an official estimate of 
the taxes to be raised for that year. There are beside 
numerous Methodist and other dissenting rehgious 
teachers, supported in part by charitable societies in 
England, and in part by voluntary contributions in the 
colony. The laboring population of Georgetown and 
its vicinity have erected several handsome chapels at 
their own expense. • 

There are numerous Sunday, infant and day schools, 
for the gratuitous diffusion of knowledge and moral 
education among the people. On most of the princi- 
pal estates a school-house is erected, and a teacher pro- 
vided, where the children of the laborers are entitled 
to receive instruction free of expense. Great attention 
is paid throughout the colony to the education of the 
rising generation. 



11 

V. DEMAND FOR LABOR, KINDS OF LABOR, WAGES. 

British Guiana possesses a siiperabimdance of the 
most fertile land. The planters are wealthy, and well 
provided with the most complete machinery for the 
manufacture of sugar. The only deficiency is a lack 
of labor. The harvest is abundant, but the laborers 
are few. For example, — on a coffee plantation, called 
Dankhaarheid, in the county of Berbice, belonging to 
Mr. Carbery, it was estimated by the owner and other 
competent persons in September last, that the crop of 
coffee on the trees exceeded one hundred thousand 
pounds weight. Of this crop, through deficiency of 
labor, only forty thousand pounds weight were gathered. 
Sixty thousand pounds of coffee on that single planta- 
tion, worth, in the British market, sixty thousand sterhng 
shillings, or about fifteen thousand dollars, perished for 
lack of hands to gather it. It is the same to a greater 
or less extent, on every other plantation. Indeed this 
deficiency of labor is more peculiarly felt on the sugar 
estates, upon many of which it is not uncommon for ripe 
canes, which if manufactured would have produced the 
value of several thousand pounds sterhng, to perish in 
the field for want of hands to gather it. 

There is indeed a great opening for industry of every 
kind. All sorts of mechanics are sure of steady em- 
ployment at wages from one to two dollars per day, 
according to their skill. Seamstresses and domestics 
are much needed and will find full employment. Any 
emigrant who can command a small capital, can open 
a shop, or set up various kinds of business to good 
advantage. Georgetown, the capital, situated at the 
mouth of the river Demarara, is a place of about twelve 



12 

thousand inhabitants, and furnishes abundant employ- 
ment in all those branches of business usually carried 
on in a commercial town. New Amsterdam, at the 
mouth of the Berbice, has about four thousand inhab- 
itants, and there are besides several villages, containing 
each some hundreds of inhabitants. 

The greatest demand however for labor is, on the 
plantations. Agricultural laborers are always sure of 
abundant employment and high wages. The labor of 
agriculture is of various kinds, and may be performed 
by any man accustomed to work, with little or no pre- 
vious instruction. It consists principally in cutting up 
weeds with the hoe, cutting down sugar-cane, and 
throwing it into boats on the canals, to be transported 
to the sugar-house ; tending the sugar boiling ; packing 
away the sugar ; boating it to market ; picking and 
curing coffee, which is very light work ; tending cattle ; 
cutting timber ; and a great variety of other labor, almost 
all of the simplest kind. 

Every laborer on a plantation has a comfortable 
house, with a plot of ground annexed, capable of raising 
a much greater quantity of provisions and poultry than 
the laborer can consume. For this he pays nothing. He 
is also provided with medical attendance, medicine, and 
a support at the expense of the estate, gratis, whenever 
he is sick. Fuel is abundant, and close at hand. It is 
needed only for cooking, and the laborer has but to help 
himself. Clothing, which in that climate is very light, 
may be amply provided, at one -third the expense in- 
curred for that article in the United States. So many 
of the wants of the laborer are thus supplied, free of 
expense to him, or at a very trifling rate, that if he 
choose to do so, he can lay by a great part of his 
wages. 



13 

The labor on a plantation is divided into tasks which 
a laborer of any activity can easily perform in four 
hours. The lowest rate of wages ever paid, is thirty- 
three and a third cents a task, and very frequently, much 
more is given. For cutting cane, attending in the boihng 
house, boating sugar, and several other kinds of labor, 
higher wages are always paid. The people employed 
in making sugar, in addition to their wages, are sup- 
plied with food at the expense of the estate. This is 
in addition to the laborer's house, provision ground, fuel, 
medical attendance, gratuitous schooling for his children, 
and a variety of other perquisites. The wages are paid 
weekly in cash. 

I have now before me an original journal, for the 
month of October, 1 839, of the plantation Thomas, 
adjoining Georgetown, owned by Mr. Carbery. This 
journal is a printed form, with blanks filled up in wri- 
ting, containing an account for each day of the month, 
of the number of laborers on the estate ; the number 
actively employed, and in what way ; the number, sick, 
absent, or otherwise prevented from working ; the work 
done each day ; with all the articles bought, sold or 
shipped, and all the money paid on account of the 
plantation during each day in the month, — in fact a 
complete history of all the business of the estate for that 
time. Similar journals are kept on every estate by the 
head manager, and are transmitted monthly to the pro- 
prietor. This excellent custom was derived from the 
early Dutch settlers. 

On the plantation, Thomas, there are three hundred 
and twenty-five acres of canes in cultivation. It appears 
by the journal above referred to, that during the month 
of October, the number of persons employed on the 



14 

estate, varied from 163 to 176, of which latter number 
89 were men, 68 women, 14 boys, and 5 girls. Of 
these, however, only 106, on an average, were daily at 
work on the estate. To these laborers there was paid 
during the month of October, in weekly payments, 
^1229 16, or an average of ^11 60, to each laborer, 
exclusive of house rent, provision grounds, fuel, medi- 
cal attendance, and many gratuities beside. It is to be 
considered that this average amount of wages was 
earned by men, women, boys and girls, including many 
old people and invalids, who did but very little, and 
whose pay was therefore small. It therefore must be 
obvious that the more active and industrious of the 
laborers, earned from fifteen to twenty dollars, a 
month. 

This single case, which is taken at random, will serve 
to show how abundantly the laborer is rewarded. The 
laborers in this case did not probably work on an average 
more than five hours per day. They were employed 
in weeding and cutting cane, and making sugar, and a 
portion of them as boatmen, watchmen, and mechanics. 
Though they are all included under the class of agri- 
cultural laborers, only about sixty out of the hundred 
and six were actually at work in the fields. Many more 
are classed in the journal, "as jobbing and at work about 
the buildings," that is, engaged in making sugar, and in 
a great variety of other work necessary on such an es- 
tate. 

To show with what rapidity the laborers grow rich 
and rise in the world, I give the following extract from 
the Berhice Advertiser of Nov. 1839. *' Astonishing 
FACT. Some negroes on the east coast, not a dozen in 
all, have bought Northbroke (a plantation) for ^10,000, 



15 

of winch they paid down $8,000 last week, the remain- 
ing ^2,000, is to be paid this week. " What happiness," 
the editor justly observes, " could our colony dissem- 
inate through the human species, did but fresh impor- 
tations of labor render the cultivation of the great staples 
compatible with the formation of black villages and 
towns." It ought to be mentioned that the people who 
clubbed together to buy this estate had only been free 
since August, 1838. It may be well to observe here 
that land in the colony is abundant and cheap ; and 
every laborer who is industrious, and will lay by his 
wages, has it in his power to become a proprietor 
within a short period. 

That there is no danger of overstocking British 
Guiana with emigrants will appear by the following 
extract from an address of Mr. John Scoble, delivered 
at Albany Tuesday evening, Aug. 1st, 1839. He spoke 
of " British Guiana, a colony on the coast of South 
America, and one which some think will ere long rival 
in its wealth and population the State of New York. 
It is capable of sustaining a population o^ forty millions^ 
though the actual number of the inhabitants is now only 
one hundred thousand." 

VI. OFFERS MADE TO SUCH FREE COLORED PERSONS OF THE 
UNITED STATES, AS MAY CHOOSE TO EMIGRATE TO BRITISH 
GUIANA. 

Mr. Carbery arrived at Baltimore in September last. 
He came to the United States partly for pleasure, and 
partly for the benefits of a change of climate. He had 
been but a few days at Baltimore, when his attention 
was attracted by die large number of free colored per- 
sons in that city ; the difficulty they seemed to have in 



16 

gaining a livelihood; and the discomforts of various 
kinds to which they are subjected. 

Knowing the great want of laborers in British Guiana, 
and the strong disposition, existing there, to encourage 
immigration, it immediately occurred to him, that by 
the transfer of a certain portion of the free colored 
people of the United States to Guiana, not only might 
a great benefit be done to that colony, but what all must 
regard as of still greater importance, a boon of vast 
value might be conferred upon the free colored people 
themselves. 

Much impressed by these considerations, Mr. Car- 
bery procured a meeting of several of the free colored 
people of Baltimore, at which he proposed to them to 
select two of their own number, in whom they had 
confidence, whom he would send to British Guiana, free 
of expense, in order to give them an opportunity to 
examine the country, to judge for themselves, and to 
report to their brethren, what the prospects for immi- 
grants really are. 

The free colored people of Baltimore, upon this sug- 
gestion and offer, organized a Committee of Emigra- 
tion, of which Mr. Green was appointed chairman, and 
selected Messrs Peck and Price, two of their number, 
as delegates to visit Guiana. These delegates sailed, 
free of expense, in the barque Don Juan, from Boston, 
on the 21st of December last. The result of their mis- 
sion is not yet known, the agents not having returned, — 
nor indeed has Mr. Carbery yet heard of their arrival 
in the colony. The news however of their arrival and 
reception is daily expected. 

In the mean time certain letters which Mr. Carbery 
had previously written to his friends in Guiana, giving 



17 

an account of the numbers and the condition of the 
free colored people in the United States, had excited 
great attention and sympathy there. A public meeting 
was held in Georgetown the capital ; an " Immigration 
Society" was established, and a very large sum of money 
was at once subscribed to form a fund for paying the 
expenses of all such immigrants as may choose to go 
to that colony. Of this sum, a considerable amount 
has been already remitted to Mr. Carbery, who is ap- 
pointed Agent of the Society for the United States, to 
be applied towards the outfit of emigrants, — the Society 
undertaking to pay the charter or passage money on 
the arrival of the vessels, and to make all necessary 
arrangements for the entertainment and comfort of the 
immigrants, until such time, as they may select some 
regular employment. Mr. Carbery is assured that 
should the colored people of the United States or any 
part of them, be induced to accept the offer he now 
makes, any amount necessary to carry his proposals into 
effect, will be furnished as it may be needed. 

As the agent of the above society Mr. Carbery offers 
to transport, from the United States to British Guiana, 
free of any expense to themselves, together with their 
baggage, all such sober and industrious free colored 
people as shall see fit to embrace this opportunity, 
so rare and extraordinary, of at once relieving them- 
selves from the great disabilities and disadvantages 
under which they now labor, and of securing not only 
a comfortable subsistence, and perhaps wealth, but 
what is of far greater importance, both for them- 
selves and their children, — a full participation in all 

the rights, privileges and immunities of freemen, and a 
3 



18 

standing and consideration in society, which at present 
is wholly beyond their reach. 

Mr, Carbery is also authorized by the society to guar- 
antee to all emigrants, ivho may accept his offers, main- 
tenance at the colonial expense, and comfortable and 
commodious lodgings, until they shall succeed in obtain- 
ing such employment as they may prefer. 

Transferred to a country which opens a vast field to 
labor, and to all sorts of enterprise, relieved from a 
weight of prejudice which now rests so heavily upon 
them, the free colored people of the United States 
would have an opportunity which they do not now 
enjoy, of proving, that when allowed to share the same 
moral and social advantages, they are able successfully 
to compete with the white man. It is indeed difficult 
to reahze the effect often produced upon a man's con- 
duct and character, when he is removed from the with- 
ering effect of the distinction of caste, and raised to 
an equality of political and social privileges. Persons, 
who if they remain in the United States, will be con- 
fined all their fives to menial and obscure stations, by 
emigrating to British Guiana, which they may do in 
twenty days, and without spending a cent, will alter the 
whole course and prospect of their fives. With industry, 
application, and sobriety, they will have a moral cer- 
tainty of rising to a comfortable competency if not to 
wealth, and of filling with pleasure to themselves and 
benefit to the community, a respectable station in soci- 
ety. Surely these considerations ought to have great 
weight with all, — but more especially with the young, 
who are just coming forward, and with those fathers 
and mothers who have families of children growing up 
about them. 

There is now opened to the free colored people of the 
United States, a city of refuge in Guiana, of which it 
is to be hoped they will not fail to avail themselves ; and 
Mr. Carbery has reason to anticipate, should the free 
colored people of the United States, and those persons 
upon whose advice and opinions they most confidently 
rely, be led to take the same view of the matter which 



19 

he does, that his visit to the United States may result 
in great good to a large body of his fellow men, who 
at present are cut off from many of the chief benefits 
of society, and by the unfortunate operation of circum- 
stances over which they have no control, are subjected 
to influences which crush their energies, break their 
spirits, and prevent them from rising to afliuence or 
consideration. Relieved from these impediments, trans- 
ferred to a country where they will be secured in the 
enjoyment of equal social and political rights, they will 
become new creatures, and many of them will dis- 
play talents and capacity of which they are not now 
suspected. 

Mr. Carbery, however, has no desire to induce any 
colored person, to emigrate to Guiana, who is not 
well satisfied, and whose friends are not also satis- 
fied, that it will be for his benefit to go. Deeply im- 
pressed as he is with the manifold advantages which 
the free colored people of the United States may de- 
rive from closing with his proposals, he submits them 
to the candid consideration of those concerned, ex- 
pressly desiring that before being adopted by any body, 
they may be subjected to the closest scrutiny, and most 
rigorous investigation. 

VII. DIRECTIONS TO PERSONS WISHING TO EMIGRATE. 

Mr. Carbery is now in Boston, but intends to pro- 
ceed immediately to New York, Philadelphia, and Balti- 
more, for the purpose of establishing Committees of 
Emigration in each of those cities, whence persons 
desirous of emigrating may obtain all necessary infor- 
mation. The address of those Committees will be 
published in the principal newspapers, and due notice 
will be given of the intended sailing of vessels with 
emigrants. Persons with families desiring to emigrate 
will meet with particular encouragement, but no person 
of good character will be refused a free passage. 

Boston, Feb. 1st, 1840. 



APPENDIX, 



No. I. 

COPY OF A LETTER FROM MR. EDWARD CARBERY, TO MR. GREENE, 
CHAIRMAN OF THE BALTIMORE COMMITTEE OF EMIGRATION. 

Tremont House, Boston, Dec. 11, 1839. 

Dear Sir, Being fully aware that you take a great interest 
in any subject connected with the welfare of the class to 
which you belong, I venture to trouble you with this commu- 
nication the object of which is to bring to your notice the 
proceedings at a public meeting of the Inhabitants of British 
Guiana, which took place in Georgetown, on the tenth of 
October last, and a full report of which is contained in the 
Guiana Chronicle of the following day. I regret it is not in 
my power to forward you the paper containing the report, as 
I only borrowed it from a gentleman in this city who received 
it a few days ago. The Extracts in question, go far to cor- 
roborate the statements I made to you and yoiu' friends rela- 
tive to the advantages which the free-colored people of tliis 
country would derive from emigration to British Guiana, and 
they will at least prove that these statements were not ex- 
aggerated. The respectability of the parties in question, no 
less than the publicity of the whole proceedings entitle their 
statements to the fullest confidence. 

The High Sheriff having taken the Chair, said, — " I can- 
not better open the proceedings on this occasion at wliich you 
have done me the honor to call me to the chair, than by re- 
ferring to the requisition on which I judged it proper and ne- 
cessary to convene this public meeting, and thus directing 
your attention to the object for which we are assembled, — 
to wit : In the words of the requisition 'for the purpose of giving 
expression to the general feeling in favor of immediate meas- 
ures being taken for the promotion of Immigration to this 
Colony, and for taking into consideration by what means this 



21 

important object can most speedily be carried into efiect. ' " 

The Hon. Peter Rose, a member of the Colonial Legisla- 
ture, and Proprietor of a Sugar Plantation called Lima, 
moved the first resolution, which was as follows. 

"That a consideration of the present state of the colony, 
with its limited number of agricultural laborers, leads this 
meeting to the irresistible conclusion that unless immediate 
immigration on a large scale takes place, the exportable pro- 
duceof the Colony already diminished to an alarming extent, 
will yet further decrease. " 

Mr. Rose then proceeded to address the meeting, and in 
the course of his speech, when alluding to the causes of the 
decreased production of British Guiana and the rate of wages, 
he observed — 

" Eight or nine dollars per month, is the common rate, but 
it is the custom to estimate the day's labor by the old tariff, 
7 1-2 hours, and it is well known that an industrious man 
can in that time perform considerably more than double the 
quantity of labor laid down by that tariff. I have myself 
paid to a man cutting canes, I 1-2 dollars for work that did 
not occupy him more than eight hours. When we take it into 
consideration that the laborer is provided with a house and 
medical attendance, it is clear that he can support himself for 
a week by one day's labor, and with this in our knowledge, 
can we wonder that his labor and industry are unsteady'?" 
Mr. Rose, in another part of his speech, speaking of the de- 
crease that had taken place in the number of laborers on most 
estates since the Emancipation, observed, "of those who 
have left estates, some have purchased land, paying for it 
sometimes as much as .£200 sterling." 

The Hon. D. C. Cameron, also a member of the Colonial 
Legislature and proprietor of several estates, moved the ^sec- 
and resolution which was of similar import to the first, and 
the following is an extract from the able and temperate 
address he delivered. " But I have pleasure in bearnig my 
humble testimony that the cause of decrease in our crops 
has not proceeded from that which was most dreaded, the in- 
subordination of the freemen of 1838, but from, causes which 
operate in every country Avhere the soil is rich and the 
. laborers few. Many of our peasantry have already amassed 
funds which have enabled them to purchase land of their 
own, and are industriously improving it for their own benefit. 
They are no longer hired servants ; they are owners of 
houses and lands which yield them sufficient to supply their 
wants, and as yet their ambition extends no further. 
But the misfortune is, that although they maintain them- 
selves and families by their industry in this way, they 



are unprofitable to the colony. They produce no taxable 
articles either for this or the home market. I for one do 
not complain of this system ; — but on the contrary, beheve it 
will be beneficial to society in the end, and wait its progress. 
Hence the necessity for immigration to fill up the blank occa- 
sioned by the independence and comfort of our former ser- 
vants. In this colony sir, every laboring man of ordinary 
capacity may in a few years, become proprietor of land suffi- 
cient to supply all his wants, by laboring upon it for thirty 
hours in the week. I am persuaded that it is only necessary 
to make the capabilities of our magnificent colony known, to 
insure us a large influx of emigrants. " 

Many other speeches were also made declaratory of the 
anxiety of the proprietory body to encourage Immigration. 
But as this communication has already exceeded the ordina- 
ry limits of a letter, 1 will not trespass longer on your patience, 
nor will I detain you by making any observations on the 
foregoing extracts. I offer them to you and your friends as 
evidence in support of the declaration I publicly made at Bal- 
timore, that the free colored people of America will derive 
great and substantial advantages by emigrating to British 
Guiana. I am, dear sir, your most obedient servant, 

EDWARD CARBERY. 

Mr. Greene, Chairman, &c. Balihnore. 



No. II. 

On the fourteenth page of the preceding pamphlet 
is an extract from the Birhice Advertiser, giving an 
account of the purchase of Northbroke by a number of 
emancipated laborers. The Guiana Chrojiicle of Mon- 
day, Dec. 9th, just received, contains additional par- 
ticulars of that purchase, which appears to have been 
made not by a dozen persons as stated in the Birhice 
paper, but by about seventy. 

The following are extracts from an address presented 
by the purchasers to the Governor of the Colony. 

To His Excellency Henry Light, Esquire, Governor and 
Commander-in-Chief in and over the Colony of British 
Guiana. 

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY, 
Sir,— # # :^ * * # 

On the 7th day of this month we jointly purchased, 



23 

from the Executors of the late Hugh Rogers, Esquire, for the 
sum of Ten Thousand Dollars, his Plantation called " North- 
broke," containing about 500 acres of land ; and as we have 
been enabled to pay the purchase money principally from 
out of our savings since we obtained our freedom, we cannot 
refrain from expressing how thankful, how grateful we are, 
how indebted we ever shall be, to all those noble-minded in- 
dividuals who were mainly instrumental in procuring and 
giving us that freedom. 

* * * * :^ # * 

We know that to the individual act of her Majesty, we owe 
the happiness of having you here, as our Ruler and Gover- 
nor, in her name. Your Excellency is too exalted in station 
to listen to praise and commendation, and we too humble to 
offer them; but we may be allowed to state, with thankful- 
ness, that every act of your Excellency's administration, 
with reference to us. and to the body to which we belong, 
has been marked with kindness, benevolence, liberality and 
justice. And we humbly pray The Almighty Ruler of all 
Men, that your Excellency may be long spared to us, to af- 
ford us your protection. 

We know the blessings of Freedom, and we endeavor to 
deserve them. We are peaceable in disposition — industrious 
by habit — loyal and faithful by nature — gratitude to our 
Sovereign, and to your Excellency, will make us doubly 
vigilant and circumspect. 

We further respectfully represent to your Excellency, that 
it is not our intention to settle down upon our Plantation, 
and lead a life of Idleness. Our views and wishes are to 
have the Land divided into equal portions among us. Indi- 
vidually rent our cottages upon our respective plots of ground, 
and thereon, in our leisure hours, cultivate our Vegetables 
and Provisions; but our firm determination, as a body, is to 
continue to labor daily, as now, upon the several Plantations 
where we are employed. 

=^ # # # # # # 

We further respectfully represent to your Excellency, that 
it is our intention to establish upon our Plantation, a School- 
House and Church, (and there is a new, large Building on 
the Estate, well adapted to these purposes) ; in the former, 
our Children will be taught to read their Bible, and learn 
their several duties to Society at large, whilst in the latter, 
as each revolving Sabbath appears, we shall assemble to- 
gether, and there offer up to the Almighty, our htuuble thanks 
for the great and wonderful benefits which, under Divine 
Providence, have been conferred upon us. 



24 

Praying your Excellency's favorable consideration and 
Patronage, 

We have the honor to be, sir, 
Your Excellency's most obedient humble servants. 

(Signed) John Sertima, William Lewis, Thomas Badlie, 
James M'Rrae, Frank Baillie, Samuel Burton, Romeo Isaac, 
Daniell Isaac, Thomas Colin, Martin, Martin Menarmy, 
Simon Hanover, Simon Scott, Thomas Hercules, John Lewis, 
Wm. Gamell Reaves, Jas. Handy, John Wheeler, Vollove 
Robert, John Mileel, Michael James, Simson Tate, Sampson 
Cooper, Isaac Chapman, Primus Samuel, Cupidore Hopkin- 
son, Uuashie Porter, Cornwall Porter, Cassar Solomon, Hall 
Porter, Quammie Adam, Hamlet Cato, Simon Spencer, Mel- 
ville Porter, Quashie Bard, Quacco Hamilton, Medhn Ham- 
ilton, John Lion, Cross Sumner, Marlborough Sam, Pollodore 
Bentick, Ceciro Hercules, Jilhs Cumming, Gambry James, 
Moses Hopkinson, Bill Williams, Blackwell Lancaster, Scipio 
Samuel, Pat Murphy, Ned Mackay, William Negaeley, Alex- 
and Porter, William Smart. Catherine Loud, Kenneth Jarrich, 
Hannah Porter, Sammy Knight, Hannah Porter, Adam Grant, 
Maria Grant, Collin M'Crea, John Tiddell, Simon King, Bel- 
lender Hopkinson. 

Signed in my presence, this 30th day of November, 1839. 

(Signed) C. H. STRUTT, Stip. Magistrate. 
Witness to the several signatures, 

(Signed) Mary Strutt. 
True Copy, 

C. R. WHINFIELD, Act. Gov. Secretary. 



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